August 06, 2014

Nigeria: Ebola outbreak is a national emergency, says health minister

The outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been described as a 'national emergency' by Nigeria's health minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu on Wednesday.

Chukwu disclosed this when he briefed federal lawmakers at an emergency meeting convened by the House of Representatives Committee on Health over the Ebola outbreak yesterday.

According to him, the EVD, which death toll the World Health Organization (WHO) says has hit 932 in West Africa, may have deliberately been brought into the country as its source, the Liberian Patrick Sawyer 'knew he was sick' but refused to heed medical counsel of experts in his country.

That may be blaming Sawyer more than he deserves. Ebola seems capable of causing mental confusion, and Sawyer may have felt such confusion before he boarded his flight. That he was allowed to board by airport officials does look like serious incompetence, and if he was already showing symptoms, he should have been left in Lome when his flight stopped there.

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The outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been described as a 'national emergency' by Nigeria's health minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu on Wednesday.

Chukwu disclosed this when he briefed federal lawmakers at an emergency meeting convened by the House of Representatives Committee on Health over the Ebola outbreak yesterday.

According to him, the EVD, which death toll the World Health Organization (WHO) says has hit 932 in West Africa, may have deliberately been brought into the country as its source, the Liberian Patrick Sawyer 'knew he was sick' but refused to heed medical counsel of experts in his country.

That may be blaming Sawyer more than he deserves. Ebola seems capable of causing mental confusion, and Sawyer may have felt such confusion before he boarded his flight. That he was allowed to board by airport officials does look like serious incompetence, and if he was already showing symptoms, he should have been left in Lome when his flight stopped there.